Santiago is far from my favourite city. It is rarely free of pollution and has little of the charm of Buenos Aires or the natural beauty of Lima or Montevideo. Unfortunately it is the only Sth American city QANTAS flies to so if you want to visit Sth America and you are Australian like us there is a good chance you will spend at least some time there. It probably didn't help that while we were there the Plaza de Armas, the main square, was completely obscured by scaffolding.

We weren't particularly impressed with the Crowne Plaza either. If we ever spend time in Santiago again I doubt we will stay there. Although we were in one of only eleven suites, our room was nothing out of the ordinary. It was large enough but the furnishings were tired and drab - AND, weirdly, the floor sloped. It was disconcerting to say the least to be way up in a sky-scraper and feel that the building wasn't quite level. The view from our window, directly into a high-rise slum next door, was awful.Even the service was ordinary. On several occasions we struggled to get help from the front desk. There seemed to be no dedicated tour desk and we often had to wait behind a queue of people checking in or out before being served.However the Hotel is very well located, within walking distance of the Plaza de Armas, Cerro San Cristóbal,Cerro Santa Lucia and the Mercado Central. The Universidad Católica and Baquedano Metro Stations are each less than 5 minutes walk. The back alleys to the south have been badly disfigured by graffiti and litter. This is not an area you would wish to linger in but to the north, on the other side of Avenida Bernardo O'Higgins, the tone improves considerably with a myriad of atmospheric little cafes and shops. One word of warning - Google Maps seems to struggle with the location of the Hotel. Double check with a paper map rather than rely entirely on Google for this one.

At the top of Cerro Santa Lucia

Not Plaza de Armas but a nice spot nevertheless

The Virgin Mary overlooking the city from Cerro San Cristobel. I have cheated a bit here and photoshopped out the ugly telephone tower right next to the statute.